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Mike Anderson & Bobby Portis Press Conference
Basically, everybody's getting better, worked hard over the summer, excited about the team, lots of gym rats, so on and so forth.
It does sound like we can expect, as anticipated, Ky Madden will be off the ball more and won't have to play point guard. Look for newcomers Jabril Durham and Anton Beard to play the 1 more often.
One other interesting note is that Bobby Portis is still growing, he's now 6'11", 244 lbs. Anderson also noted that going to the Durant & LeBron camps has been really good for Michael Qualls because they were physical and that's something Qualls wasn't ready for when SEC play began last January, causing his slump (maybe that could be helped by better December noncon scheduling?)
Also referred to Keaton Miles playing a Coty Clarke-type of role. It would really be huge for the Hogs if he can be anywhere near as productive as Clarke was. I've said before, Miles is the biggest mystery going into the season just because I really have no idea what to expect. He wasn't very productive at West Virginia but this system may be a more natural fit for him.
They do mention Trey Thompson being a good rebounder, which the team will definitely need. Arkansas absolutely must be a better defensive rebounding team in order to be more successful.
Seven of the players are from Arkansas, and Anderson says that helps the team understand what it means to be a Razorback, which can spread among everyone else.
Here's the full videos if you want to watch for yourself:
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New Strength & Conditioning Coach
Mike Anderson has replaced longtime Strength & Conditioning Coach David Deets with Adam Petway, who has been working with the team under Deets for at least one season. Now you know.
Nolan Richardson's Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is August 8th
Set your DVRs. The Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is coming soon and will be televised on NBA TV and will be streamed (presumably via hoopshall.com but uncertain as of right now). The ceremony is from 5:30 - 9:30 pm. This is a big deal, y'all.
Tickets are on sale
Season tickets for basketball are on sale and they've tweaked the way they're selling them this year. They've announced there will be 9 non-conference games (so they're probably not going to a neutral court tournament) to go along with the 9 SEC games (plus 2 exhibition games), and you can buy tickets for $450, or $360 for seats in "The Loft" - which I believe are the upper deck sections behind the baskets. But, like new to football, they're offering payment plans to make payments easier. Order by July 31st and you can break it up into four payments, and three payments if your order after that date.
We know the Hogs will play Dayton, Wake Forest, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Missouri in Fayetteville this season. The rest of the schedule has yet to be officially set.
